A Brief History On February 11, 2013, the sitting Pope of the Catholic Church, Benedict XVI, announced his resignation from the papacy. As no pope had voluntarily resigned in about 500 years, this news shocked the entire world, not just the Catholic world. Digging Deeper Born Joseph Ratzinger in Bavaria, he first became a priest, then an archbishop, then a cardinal before ascending to the papacy in 2005 when he succeeded Pope John Paul II. At one point fairly liberal, Benedict became much more conservative starting in 1968. At his resignation at age 86, he claimed old age and infirmity (“lack of strength of mind and body”). As…
Author: Major Dan
Major Dan
Major Daniel Zar is a retired veteran of the United States Marine Corps. He served during the Cold War and has traveled to many countries around the world. Prior to his military service, he graduated from Cleveland State University, having majored in sociology. Following his military service, he worked as a police officer eventually earning the rank of captain prior to his retirement.
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A Brief History On February 10, 1942, the first Gold Record ever was awarded to Glenn Miller for his hit song “Chattanooga Choo Choo.” Glenn Miller’s famous train had chugged its way along to sales of 1.2 million, and, as would become the practice, the “gold record” was awarded to him by the company that had produced the record (in this case, RCA Victor). Later, in 1958, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) began an industry-wide practice of awarding gold records for sales of 1 million copies of a single. Starting n 1968, albums were awarded a gold record…
A Brief History On February 9, 2001, the U.S. Navy nuclear submarine USS Greeneville (SSN 772) accidentally sank the Japanese training fishing vessel Ehime Maru on board which were some high school students. Digging Deeper The Greeneville had been conducting maneuvers of the coast of Honolulu, Hawaii with guests aboard, mostly big-money donors to the Battleship Missouri Memorial at Pearl Harbor. In the course of conducting an emergency main ballast tank blow and ascent, the nuclear sub came up underneath the Ehime Maru in a terrific collision that smashed the hapless fishing boat and sank it within 10 minutes. Japanese losses were 9…
A Brief History In the night of February 8-9, 1855, the fresh snow of Devon, England was marked with mysterious, bipedal, cloven-hoofed tracks often referred to as “The Devil’s Footprints.” (Please click on the link for an informative video.) Digging Deeper The tracks were especially unusual in nature in that they were said to have stretched for 40 to 100 miles over the south-western tip of England and to have gone right over tall objects such as buildings and haystacks rather than going around them. Mostly in a straight line, the prints were about 4 inches long by 3 inches wide, with a stride…
A Brief History February 7, 2014 marked the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the “British Invasion,” a period in which British rock and roll musicians flooded the United States, starting with the greatest of them all, The Beatles. Digging Deeper Arriving to throngs of adoring, screaming and crying girls and young women, the “Fab Four” made their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show 2 days later. “Beatlemania” was born and America officially conquered! From 1964 to 1970, the “mop tops” ruled the air waves and record stores like no other group before or since. Even songs about The Beatles were played on…